Venezuelan Pride: Javier Sanoja’s Drive Huge Part of Marlins Success
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When an athlete is going through difficult times, he looks for some fuel to get him going.
Miami Marlins infielder Javier Sanoja delivered a sensational performance on Saturday night. Is this the start of a new shift in his game?
Javier Sanoja Delivers While Playing with a Heavy Heart
Venezuela has been in the news throughout the week due to a devastating earthquake, which rocked the country twice. Thousands of victims weren't lucky enough to survive the massive earthquakes. The 23-year-old infielder is one of the many Venezuelan baseball players who felt deep grief. He spoke about it to reporters earlier this week in video recorded by the Marlins Radio Network.
Javier Sanoja, who is from Maracay, Venezuela led the media availability for Clayton McCullough this evening. pic.twitter.com/Nky4qOwIEL
— Marlins Radio Network (@MarlinsRadio) June 26, 2026
Sanoja was part of the Venezuela team that won the World Baseball Classic in March. Now, Sanoja will channel his pain into his performance on the field. He answered by going 3-for-4 with a run, an RBI, and two stolen bases in a 5-1 win over the Cardinals.
Sanoja has been getting good at the plate in the last seven games. He's one of the contributing factors to why the Marlins have been hot in June. Miami is 17-5 in June.
During the last seven games, Sanoja is slashing .467/.438/.600 with seven hits, three runs, two RBIs, and two stolen bases. Overall, Sanoja is hitting .260 with two home runs, 26 RBIs, and 47 hits in 181 at-bats this season.
Sanoja has gifts and tremendous talent. As a utility man, Sanoja must continue to do what he's doing and deliver hit after hit. He won't be in the lineup every day. Still, hopefully, the situation in Venezuela will give him much more pride and motivation to show manager Clayton McCullough that he wants to be in the lineup every day. His defense is great. He won the Gold Glove last season. What he must do is to continue to get hits.
His people and family mean a lot to him. Many people are pulling for him to succeed. Many Venezuelans live in Miami. There's a fan base there.
The team is playing exceptional baseball. During the offseason, this is what most people were expecting and hoping for. Sometimes it takes the summertime for the players to kick in and rise to the occasion.
The Marlins currently sit in third place in the NL East but are having their best June in franchise. Miami is now a part of the NL Wild Card race. Yes, there are still plenty of baseball games left to play, but one can't help but feel the excitement of the team progressing.
The Marlins haven't been a good road team, but they've played well away from home this month.
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After graduating from City College of New York in 2014, Miguel created his own blog. Since 2021, he has written for FanSided, where he covered the Toronto Blue Jays, College Football and Utah Mammoth hockey team. He also wrote for Miami Heat on SI and Cleveland Sports Talk. Miguel is the creator and host of his podcast, Baseball Heat Podcast with Mike.